


Riko's Seirin

by bob2ff



Series: Seirin Shenanigans [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-18
Updated: 2014-03-18
Packaged: 2018-01-16 05:03:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1332985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bob2ff/pseuds/bob2ff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Riko wonders if she could be someone not defined by the boys around her.</p><p>Written for bps Challenge 62: Girls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Riko's Seirin

Riko had spent her whole life being defined by the boys around her.

As Aida Kagetora's daughter, she grew up surrounded by athletes who were always pushing themselves to the limit. Huge men patted her on the head and told her "Riko-chan, your dad is a genius. I benched 5 kg more today!" It was her first exposure onto the tendency of boys to push themselves to the limit, only to push themselves beyond it.

When she got to middle school, she met Hyuuga Junpei. At the lofty age of 13, he jumped up excitedly from his seat when he heard she was her father's daughter, and declared that he would go to Aida's sports gym every day to run until he made the middle school basketball team, and even after that he would continue to go.

Hyuuga-kun being her neighbour, they walked to and from school every day together, Hyuuga-kun proudly telling her the times he clocked that day in the treadmill while she gave him tips on a diet to improve muscle mass.

Girls and boys alike teased her, calling her "Hyuuga-kun's girlfriend." It didn't seem to matter that her hair was cut short to reduce the girliness of her look, or that Hyuuga spent more time listening to her than she did him. Even in middle school social landscape, where a simple boy-girl friendship was mercilessly teased, she was _Hyuuga-kun's_ girlfriend, yet he was not _Aida-san's_ boyfriend.

By the time she got to high school, she had gotten used to boys from sports clubs approaching her asking for tips to get better, faster, stronger. Her abilities were defined by the boys that approached her. "Aida can tell you how to be a better baseball player"; "Aida can tell you how to get taller by high school"; these were the sentences she heard throughout middle school, and upon entering high school, her position as consultant to athletic boys was sealed.

When Kiyoshi and Izuki approached her to become Seirin's coach, she was almost physically repelled by the notion. The one boy who she respected, and had almost not minded being defined by, had disappointed her. There was no way she was going to be defined by a bunch of bull-headed basketball idiots as "Seirin's manager."

Then Hyuuga-kun, as he always could, had swayed her, and she became "Seirin's coach."

It was wonderful. She almost didn't mind being defined by the team, because they were boys she cared so much about. They inspired her every day with their willingness to push themselves beyond the limits, with their attitudes to put in the work to achieve what they wanted.

Still, she wondered. People always assumed she was the manager (which was understandably natural), but even when they found out she was the coach, they called her "Seirin's coach." It was never "Aida's Seirin," not in the way her father had managed to carve his brand onto his athlete's physiques.

But finally, when the time came as Seirin lifted their first national trophy, and the announcer boomed "Champions, Coach Aida Riko's team, Seirin high school," she smiled and finally knew.

She had finally defined a place for herself to belong.


End file.
